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April 21, 2014

happy easter! hands down one of my favorite times to celebrate. i was reading in alma this morning and ammon was talking to his “bretheren” about how they have every reason to rejoice and boast in their God. it just made me smile and feel how true that is. Christ has given us every reason to smile and rejoice because he gives us hope through our faith and he lifts us higher. such a miracle. such a blessing.

i’m trying to remember what happened this week but it all kinda blends together. basically, time is just going too quick. but the important thing is that we had easter. so beautiful. after church we went home for a quick second and i saw one of our neighbors get home. she’s a recent convert and she makes us food sometimes. so sweet. so funny. anyway, she looked really sad so i grabbed my companion and my book of mormon and we ran over. she needed to let some feelings out and express herself. basically she’s tired of being so nice and still being made fun of and not being treated well. we reminded her that our Savior Jesus Christ had similar feelings. so this experience made me think of two things. one. we often feel that our efforts go unnoticed or unappreciated. that we give and give and give but for what? and when we do try to do the right thing it doesn’t seem to be enough. two. people are often mistreated these days. misunderstood. and forgotten. so here’s my 2 cents. never ever ever believe for a second that our efforts are lost. God notices and who cares about anything else? okay…that seemed insensitive, what i should have said is that God sees our hearts perfectly. in a way that no one else can even if they truly tried. so we can let go of everything else and keep chugging along. even if we feel run down and that no one cares, keep giving, keep smiling, keep serving, keep being who you are, keep believing, and keep keeping on. the Lord needs keepers because we play for keeps. He has asked for people who will keep covenants, who will keep the light of Christ burning bright and will keep love in their hearts. if we do that, things fall into place and the love spreads around. the world could always use a little more love:)

alrighty, now the good stuff. so one of my really good friends, rocio, someone very dear to my little heart was baptized on saturday and received the gift of the holy ghost yesterday:) easter:) we had the baptism all planned out and got it all set up and all we needed was the people. about five minutes after it was supposed to start we were thinking “where is everyone?” but not only were we working with “mormon standard time”, we needed to put mexican time on top of that. so we got going about a half hour later but hey, she is baptized and she is happy. it was probably one of the most powerful baptisms i’ve been to. at the very end, the branch mission leader got up and pointed out that all 13 of the kids there had been calm and “tranquil” the entire time. so for about an hour. impressive right? (big time) then he said something that hit my heart and stuck. he said, “it’s because the spirit is here”. now, you’re thinking, “duh…” but when he said that there was this wave that crashed onto all of us, it was amazing. anyway, it was a humbling experience to be there. we can’t send pictures on these particular computers in the library so they’ll come next week, i promise.

one of the many miracles this week was receiving a media referral. a woman started talking to her friend from high school who is serving a mission in argentina, about the gospel. they have been emailing back and forth. well, this missionary sent a request to have the missionaries go visit her. (that’s us!) anyway, her name is martha and man is she prepared. this week we taught her about the restoration and prayer, the book of mormon, and gave her a church tour. her goal right now is to be baptized on the 17th of may:) the Lord prepares his people so we need to be prepared to help them progress.

i read alma 26 this morning and i was just feeling so pumped! i miss you like crazy but there is not anywhere in the world that i would rather be serving. i am so grateful for that. it’s been hard but worth it ya know? i was thinking, the friday that Christ was crucified, the earth shook and mourned. but sunday came. and He rose from the tomb and He lives. sunday always comes. i know that the Lord converted rocio. but it feels real to be a part of it. to help her. to love her and see her grow.

so something that i remember from conference is that when a missionary and their family can share what they are studying from preach my gospel, everyone learns and grows. there’s power in that. so i want to start that. i was studying in preach my gospel about personal revelation and i found a really neat scripture about it. alma 26:22. it’s a promise that if we do those things, truth will be revealed to us. then this morning, i was studying page 205 about the qualifications of baptism and what it means to take upon us the name of Christ. even though we have been baptized by water and by the holy ghost we still need to do these things so we can be “rebaptized” each week when we partake of the sacrament. it was neat because the spirit taught me this. it was just so neat to have my own “personal revelation” through reading the book of mormon. i know it’s true. well i just want you to know that i love you lots. thanks for the support and love. les quiero mucho!!

have a sunny week and always look for opportunities to share your light.

con amor,

hermana bain

alma 24:10

And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.